Ex-security guard takes stand to refute theft charges

ESCONDIDO — A woman accused of stealing thousands of dollars during a one-year period as an armed security guard denied the allegations when she testified Nov. 20.
“I loved my job,” Tammy Bolson said. “I loved going to work. I loved the people I worked with.”
Bolson, 40, is charged with one felony count each of fraud appropriated by an employee and grand theft for thefts that occurred from February 2007 to August 2008 when she worked as an armed guard for Brinks Security.
Two additional enhancements are attached to the grand theft charge that allege aggregated losses of more than $50,000 and the value of the losses exceeded more than $100,000.
An investigator for the prosecution testified that Bolson had more than $35,000 in purchases that exceeded her income from Brinks Security during the two-year period.
However, Bolson accounted for the money as being from the approximately $30,000 in savings she had stored in multiple safes in her Escondido residence. She said she had been saving for 15 years and felt her money was more secure in her home then in the bank.
Prosecutors allege the thefts occurred at a time when Bolson was part of a trio that would pick up deposits from ATM’s and night deposit boxes throughout San Diego County. In addition to that duty, Bolson also worked in a two-person crew on Sundays, in which she said she would pick up deposits directly from store managers.
Bolson, who worked at Brinks as an armed guard for nearly four years, was not only adamant that she didn’t commit the thefts, she, as well as friends and former co-workers, said she was a diligent, by-the-books employee.
Brinks fired Bolson on Aug. 8 for violating their no cell phone policy while picking up deposits. She said she carried her cell phone on her because she had young children and an ex-husband who has a chronic illness. Prior to Bolson’s termination, her vehicle and belonging were searched after $50,000 came up missing from a transaction she was involved in with another employee earlier that day. The money was never recovered.
Bolson remains in custody in lieu of $250,000 bail.